Best wishes all around for the new year. I’ve been neglecting the blog along with everything else, but I’ve been thinking about it. I’ve got a bunch of projects I’ll be rolling out in the the new year, all pertaining to the psychodyamics of music groups. Stay tuned.

I’ve been reading Alex Ross‘s wonderful tome The Rest is Noise. A history of 20th Century music, it ties together what was happening musically as the vocabulary of the 20th Century was developed, along with what was happening politically and economically. If you want an antidote to the impression that “serious” composers lived on Mount Olympus somewhere, away from the gritty concerns of commercialism and popularity, you couldn’t do better.

Todays musicians have to find a way to reach an audience and make an income under conditions of uncertainty and flux. The old ways of doing things are breaking down and it’s unclear which of the new ways will endure. As Mr. Byrne might say, “same as it ever was”. This is the way it’s been for musicians since … Haydn? Mozart? Beethoven? This was especially tumultuous in the 20th Century. Read more »

In today’s Wired magazine site, David Byrne has written a small textbook on the recorded-music industry that summarizes the major approaches that are available today. The included audio clips of his interviews with innovators of different business models are well worth the time.

He sets out six models of recorded-music distribution, which he calls The Six Possibilities:

Where there was one, now there are six: Six possible music distribution models, ranging from one in which the artist is pretty much hands-off to one where the artist does nearly everything. Not surprisingly, the more involved the artist is, the more he or she can often make per unit sold. The totally DIY model is certainly not for everyone — but that’s the point. Now there’s choice. Read more »

Celebrate as you wish. On that date in 1907, Arnold Schoenberg sketched the song “Ich darf nicht dankend” (“I must not in gratitude [sink down before you]”), music in which conventional tonal harmonies grow exceedingly scarce.

But shouldn’t Alex recognize this as a day of a-tonement?

UPDATE:A Google search on “Schoenberg” brought up this ad. This proves something, I’m just not sure what.